Harris, Julie (1925-2013), was an American actress known for her sensitive portrayals of complex women primarily on the stage, but also in motion pictures and television. Harris became a star on Broadway in 1950 with her performance as 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams in The Member of the Wedding, based on a novel by the American writer Carson McCullers. Harris made her movie debut by repeating the role in the motion-picture adaptation in 1952, receiving an Academy Award nomination as best actress. Harris received more Tony Award nominations (10) and won more Tony Awards (5) than any other performer. She received a special lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2002. She also won 3 Emmy Awards.
On the stage, Harris starred as party girl Sally Bowles in I Am a Camera (1951) and as the French national heroine Joan of Arc in The Lark (1955). Harris won acclaim for her one-woman show about the American poet Emily Dickinson called The Belle of Amherst (1976). Harris’s major films included a motion-picture adaptation of I Am a Camera (1955), East of Eden (1955), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), The Haunting (1963), Harper (1966), and Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967). In addition, Harris made numerous appearances on television, especially on the series “Knots Landing,” from 1981 to 1987.
Julia Ann Harris was born on Dec. 2, 1925, in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. She studied acting at the Yale School of Drama and the Actors Studio, making her Broadway debut in 1945 in It’s a Gift. Harris died on Aug. 24, 2013.
